nickelodeon_fantasyfandomcom-20200214-history
M.C.
Gang is an American 4-D computer animated coming of age dark fantasy serialized television series created by Steve Marmel for Kart Tunes. It was produced by Diamond Champion in association with Rising Stars and distributed by Warner Bros. Set in the early-mid 2010s era of New York City, the series follows the adventures of McCrillis Nsiah, an adolescent boxer and mixed martial artist fighter who works a full-time job in a secret youth exploration program as an undercover agent to fight against law enforcement and gang tyrannies despite also being a high school student. Originally created as a 48-minute long film titled "Those Who Cross Him End Up Dead", which was produced in 2062-63 and aired on Kart Tunes in 2064, Gang received a series green-light by the network when the film won an Academy Award a year later. Production of the series began in 2065 and finished in 2073. Marmel cited several teenage-heroine action-orientated television series in the 2000s and 2010s era, including a 1973 television film, as his sources of inspiration for Gang; in addition, the series also made numerous references to various 1990s-2000s Disney, Cartoon Network, and Nickelodeon programming. The series premiered on November 27, 2070 and finished on January 4, 2075, lasting 52 half-hour episodes across four seasons. Gang received immense domestic and international popularity, with praises particularly directed at the characters, animation, and soundtrack, despite some criticism towards its story for being convoluted. It won a total of 20 awards - six Annie Awards, six Primetime Awards, four Teen Choice Awards, three Golden Reel Awards, and one Kids' Choice Awards. It is Kart Tunes' highest rated series in the network's history to date, with almost 50 million viewers a month in 2073 and 2074. Gang has spawned various merchandise which includes collectible action figures, dolls, clothing, album, and home video releases. Premise Settings Characters Main article: List of Gang characters Production Origin Steve Marmel had been with Kart Tunes for 10 years since 2052, producing various shorter films, all of them being 8 minutes long, that could have served as pilot episodes for future episodic or serialized ongoing series. These shorts were aired as one of the episodes on the network's monthly hour-long block U-Vote Alive, which allowed viewers to vote online on Kart Tunes' official website for their favorite shorts and which short they want to see more of. Despite being nominated for various awards, none of them were approved by the network to be turned into a series because of the lower amount of viewer approval ratings, thus, the shorts ended up as failures. In 2062, after a party that Kart Tunes threw for Marmel in celebration of his 10-year career, the network finally gave him an offer to make a television series of his own, because Kart Tunes was looking for a show that could appeal to an all-age audience compared to almost all of its shows that were airing at the time, which were only limited to appealing to a certain age group despite critical acclaim, and thus, resulting in generally lower than expected overall viewership for Kart Tunes. Marmel refused politely, seeing as his previous works were never a hit to begin with. Marmel soon partnered with O Entertainment and Omation Animation Studio to produce a 48-minuite long made-for-television film titled "Those Who Cross Him End Up Dead" from 2062 to 2063 and aired on Kart Tunes in 2064 as one of the episodes in U-Vote Alive; it was written by Marmel and directed by his long-time adulthood friend and associate Shawn Thomas, a black public journalist who has had multiple legal issues with law enforcement. The story in the film introduced McCrillis and MaKayla who, unlike in the approved series, were biologically related as brother and sister; the former of whom was involved in a gang-related assault in a case of mistaken identity that ended near fatally when the perpetrators ran him over with their car. It resulted in the loss of his entire body and his soul surgically merged with MaKayla's; they were forced to share one body for the rest of their lives; their merged souls also allowed them to switch minds for control of their shared body at any time, with MaKayla having priority since it's her body. McCrillis manipulated MaKayla into purchasing a gun as well as training in boxing and mixed martial arts to become physically strong enough to go after the perpetrators in retaliation. The film , won an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and was approved by Kart Tunes to be greenlit into a series. Conception and development finished yetThe lead characters, McCrillis and MaKayla, would not be biologically related; however, while writing and directing episodes of the show, the staff still maintained their brother-and-sister type of relationship in addition to giving them adult-like responsibilities at such a young age to help the narrative address their ideals and philosophies accordingly. Their backstories each were also further altered to make events in the series’ timeline more thematic. Gang was somewhat inspired by several teenage heroine action-orientated series back in the 2000s and 2010s era, more specifically Kim Possible and Danny Phantom, the latter of which Marmel used to work on. Both series each feature a high school teenage heroine protagonist fighting crime while coping with everyday issues commonly associated with adolescence. Gang was more so heavily inspired by a 1973 television movie titled The Marcus-Nelson Murders, and it was the pilot episode for the television series Kojak. It was set in New York City and that episode depicted a young, intellectually underdeveloped black male being abused and framed for crimes by members of the New York City Police Department. Gang also made many references to various 1990s-2000s Disney, Cartoon Network, and Nickelodeon programming as well. - - Casting Animation Approximately up to 100 people worked together producing and animating each episode of Gang. The crew at Rising Stars did the written scripts, graphic design and movement, and dialogue; the episodes were then finalized by the crew at Diamond Champion, who reviewed them, did the editing, and added music, before being sent to Kart Tunes for approval or scrapped after disapproval from the network. While the series was expensive and time-consuming to produce and animate, the staff planned on finishing it up to "as long as they can", but they had overspent the budget on the series, and had to cancel their intention and shorten it down to 52 episodes. - - Soundtrack Themes The series explored topics rarely touched in many television shows that feature teenagers in middle school and high school respectively. It deals with youth, peer pressure, abuse, sin, repentance, corruption, war, loss, racism, discrimination, stereotyping, homelessness, and LGBT. Gang also explored the philosophical questions surrounding the law and policy; this results in its characters and plot structure being written with many layers of depth and complexity, and thus, their motives frequently being strayed into grey territory; this narrative writing gives the series a wide variety in its atmosphere, a consistent theme, and a relatable connection to the audience. In short, the series touched upon the human nature. Broadcast Episodes International Reception Ratings Critical reception Awards and accolades See also